Surgical aspirator



Nqv. 28, 1950 s. A. HENDERSON SURGICAL ASPIRATOR Filed Sept. 1, 194aINVENTOR.

Patented Nov. 28, 1950 UN-[TED s miss mrem T one: cs

suRGrcAL Asrn'thiroit strata s ream, stems. hasten-r to t'GcincoSurgical Mafiufactj ring 'CorpQ, Buffalb, N. Y, a corporation New York NApplication September 1, 1948,Se1'ial No. 47,180

east. (61. est-tat) This invention relatesto surgical aspi tatols,

"aud ,;moreparticularly to improvements in an aspiratorfordentalsurgery. 1 t t, jGenerally dental aspirators of the typewith which; thepresent invention :is concerned; include ,ahandle through which apassageextendsand a hollow tip or tube removablymounted, onwone end of thehandle. A set of similar tips, each of which is formed with adifferently sized opening, in its operative end, is generally providedwith such a handle so that the tips are inter- ,changeable and the .mostsuitably sized tip can be employed for removal of liquid, semi-solid andsolid material, such as blood, saliva, tissue andbone chips from themouth of the patient.

I-Ieretofore the end of the handle of such an aspirator which receivedthe tip was formedwith a female taper into which the correspondinglytapered male end of the tip was inserted. The connection between handleand tip relied upon was therefore one of axially wedging one part intoanother, V r

, A dentalaspirator of the type in question is frequently used as a lipor mouth retractor incidental to removing material from the mouth of thepatient and this places a mechanical stress on the connection betweenthe tip and handle. In such use of the prior aspirator it was notuncommonfor the tip to loosen and separate from the handle and fall intothe mouth of the patient whicnwas undesirable, of course, or onto thefloor resulting in contamination of the tip and requiring itsresterilization before being used again. Thus inconvenience and annoyingdelay attended use of this prior aspirator.

Further the tapering of the tip and handle of suchprioraspirator toprovide the wedge connection therebetween was such as toproduce aconstriction in the passage through which passed the material removedfrom the patients mouth. Hence when a piece of solid orsemi-solidmaterial large enough to pass through the larger partpf the passageencountered the restriction ittco'uld not passand the passagewouldbecome plugged. This rendered the aspirator inoperative until thepassagewas unblocked.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide anaspirator in which the tip is firmly connected tothe handle and somaintamed during use of the aspirator.

Another object is to provide such an aspirator in which the tip isquickly removable and interchangeable with other tips of similar form.Another object is to provide such an aspirator which will not plug up inuse.

r ess 8 othe b ects-end revetmen a atria entjfrom the followingdescription and drawings wherein:

(L r V J m :1 ;Fig l is a side elevational view of an aspirator m ng here'sen inv ntion-H ,Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the tip there--lfiu w J, i 1 #1) its 1, I Z Fig. 33 is a fragmentary, side e1 tionalfyiew, on an enlargedscale, -,of the tip receiving end of the handleshown in Fig.1,

e s a c n ra o e tu i 1;- tik x al e on a slightly enlarged scale, ofthe locking nut o i Fiet t F st 5, fr n ar ntra l9neit in sectionalview, on an enlarged scale, taken on line 5--5, Fig. 1. I H LU Fig, 6,;is ;-a transverse sectional view taken on n .F s. .5-, Fig. 7 is a sideelevational fragmentary view, on an enlarged scale,, of the operativeend of the u hown n Figs. 1 and t:

Fig. 8 is anend elevational view of the opera- 'tive,endof the tip shownin Fig.7, p

p The ,dental, aspirator embodying ,the present invention is sh0vvn, ascomprising a handle 10 andtip ,IL The tip II is shown as being anelongated tube circular incrosssectipn and-havin a. p sa l2 1 e tendinco pl tefl t r thro a b a nt t one end, the extremity ofpthis bent end,being externally and internally tap,er ed to provide a nozzle li Thetipll isillustrative of one of a; ser ie s ofjnterchangeable tips whichare, usually providedswith this ltype ofaspirator each ltip of suchseries av n a difi en y sized zz e pe nal flhe handle IB is shown ashaving the conventional elongated g form and; ,exteriorscqntouring andbeing formed to rovideiacentra -axi l s ge t-ex end e compl e ytherethroueh.

The. r en o hethaindlegis shown as b in formed with an axiallyprojecting nipple JS. This nipple I E is adapted to beconnected to afiegrib lefl tubing not shown) connected to a uuml i tsu t a qum H ew ti mr 'taht-f e ur timer s t nre s in the means for firmly yet duic'hly,re-

niovably mounting the tip H on the handle l0.

by loosening the nut 20.

To this end, the front end of the handle is shown as being formed withan outwardly projecting axial integral neck N5, the outer end of whichis externally tapered as indicated at H. Intermediate the tapered end I1and the main body of the handle H], the neck 16 is externally threadedto provide a male thread It The outer portion of the neck It is radiallycontractable and for this purpose is slit. As shown, a pair ofdiametrically opposite slits l9l9 extend from the outer extremity of theneck I6 axially thereof into the threaded portion l8.

A nut is arranged on the neck It. This nut 20 has an opening extendingcompletely therethrough. One end portion of this opening is taperedcorresponding to the tapered end I! on the neck [6 as represented by thenumeral 2| and the opposite end portion is of enlarged diameter asindicated at 22, the portion of this opening intermediate these taperedand enlarged ends being internally threaded as indicated at 23. Thefemale thread 23 of the nut 20 works on the male thread E8 on the neck16 so that the tapered end 2| of the nut is engageable with the taperedend I! on the handle [9 when the nut is moved axially of the neck in onedirection. The external shape of the nut 26 may be of any desired formand is shown as being bell shaped at its front end merging into acylindrical rear end, the periphery of this cylindrical rear end portionbeing knurled, as indicated at 24, to facilitate manually turning thenut.

The passage M which is preferably of uniform diameter throughout extendsthrough the neck l6 of the handle Ill. The outside diameter of theattaching end of the tip H is approximately the same as the diameter ofpassage l4 so that the tip can be easily inserted and removed from theneck It. To limit the depth to which the attaching end of the tip can beinserted into the neck I6, the tip is shown as being formed with anintegral protuberance or collar extending radially outwardly from theexterior of the tip and spaced axially of the tip from the extremitythereof.

In the assembled condition of the parts shown in Fig. 5, the attachingend of the tip IL is arranged in the passage M of the handle it] withthe rear shoulder of the collar 25 against the front end face of the nut20, this nut being arranged on the neck [6. By turning the nut 20 in onedirection its surface forming the tapered opening 2| wedges against thetapered end I 'l of the neck and thereby clamps or pinches the neckagainst the tip II, the slits |9l9 permitting of this radial contractionof the neck. Thus the tip is firmly held on the handle and is notsubject to loosening or removal except It is merely necessary to turnthe nut a fraction of a turn in the reverse direction to relieve thepressure of the tapered neck end I 1 against the taper 2| so that thetip can be withdrawn from the passage M. The opposed segmental sectionsof the neck [6 formed by the slits I9l9 are resilient and constantlyseek a position in which they are Y concentric with the remainder of theneck. Any

other size of tip having a similar attaching end can be quickly slidinto the passage l4 and held in place by tightening the nut 28.

It will be noted that there are no restrictions in the passages I2 and14 so that any solid or semi-solid material which enters the nozzle endof the tip ll does not encounter a constriction in passing from thepassage l2 into the passage 4 I4. Hence the passages l2 and M are notlikely to become plugged in use.

The operative end of the nozzle l3 of the tip I l is formed to permitmaterial to enter the passage l2 in the tip when the opening or inlet 26in the end of the nozzle is closed off. Referring to Figs. '7 and 8,this purpose is accomplished by the provision of a pair of diametricallyopposite slits 21, 21 in the operative end of the nozzle [3. Each ofthese slits 21 is shown as extending axially of the wall of the nozzleand opening to the end face of the nozzle. Thus, if in using theaspirator the nozzle [3 is inserted in a recess in the tissue of thepatients mouth and pressed against the tissue so that the opening orinlet 26 is thereby closed, the material in the recess can be stillremoved by passing through the slits 2! into the passage l2. It will beunderstood that any number of slits can be provided in the nozzle 13.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the present invention providesan aspirator having a tip and handle in which simple clamping means areprovided for firmly but quickly removably mounting the tip on thehandle. Further an unrestricted passage through which the materialhandled by the aspirator fiows is provided by the invention.

I claim:

1. A surgical aspirator, comprising a handle having a neck projectingtherefrom and a passage extending axially through said neck, said handlebeing adapted to connect said passage to a source of vacuum, the outerend of said neck being externally tapered, a portion of said neckadjacent said tapered end being externally threaded, a nut arranged onsaid neck and having a through opening one portion of which isinternally threaded to work on said externally threaded portion and anadjacent portion of which is tapered and engageable with said taperedend, and a tip tubular in cross-section partially arranged in saidpassage and slidable therein, said neck being slit so as to render saidneck radially contractable whereby said neck is clamped against said tipwhen said nut is moved axially of said neck to wedge saidtapered portionagainst said tapered end.

2. A surgical aspirator, comprising an elongated handle having a neckprojecting axially from one end thereof and a passage extending axiallythrough neck and handle, said handle being adapted to connect saidpassage to a source of vacuum, the outer end of said neck beingexternally tapered, a portion of said neck adjacent said tapered endbeing externally threaded, a nut arranged on said neck and having athrough opening an inner portion of which is internally threaded to workon said externally threaded portion and an outer portion of which istapered corresponding to said tapered end and enga-geable therewith, anda tip tubular in crosssection removably arranged in said passage andslidable therein, said neck having a slit extending axially thereofwhereby said neck is clamped against said tip when said nut is turned soas to move axially of said neck to wedge said tapered portion againstsaid tapered end.

3. A surgical aspirator, comprising an elongated handle having a neckprojecting axially from one end thereof and a passage extending axiallythrough said neck and handle, said handle being adapted to connect saidpassage to a source of vacuum, the outer end of said neck be ingexternally tapered, a portion of said neck adjacent said tapered endbeing externally threaded, a nut arranged on said neck and having athrough opening an inner portion of which is internally threaded to Workon said externally threaded portion and an outer portion of which istapered corresponding to said tapered end and engageahle therewith, atip tubular in cross-section removably arranged in said passage andslidable therein, and a protuberance projecting radially outwardly fromsaid tip and engageable with said nut thereby to provide a stop to limitthe depth of insertion of said tip into said passage, said neck having apair of diametrically opposite parallel slits extending axially of saidneck from the outer extremity thereof and terminating short of theextremity of the inserted end of said tip whereby said neck is clampedagainst said tip when said nut is turned so as to move axially of saidneck to wedge said tapered portion against said tapered end.

20 4. A holder for a surgical aspirator tip, comend of said neck beingexternally tapered, a portion of said neck adjacent said tapered endbeing externally threaded, said neck having a pair of diametricallyopposite parallel slits extending axially of said neck and leading tothe outer extremity thereof and a nut arranged for axial movement onsaid neck and having a through opening an inner portion of which isinternally threaded to work on said externally threaded portion and anouter portion of which is tapered corresponding to said tapered end andengageable therewith.

STANFORD A. HENDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 63,709 Dibble Apr. 9, 1867213,356 Snow Mar. 18, 1879 946,972 Manning Jan. 18, 1910 969,922 TracySept. 13, 1910 2,301,781 Higbee Nov. 10, 1942

